Over the weekend, I went to see an impressionism exhibit at Fort Worth’s Kimbell Art Museum. The entire collection, which includes 21 Renoirs and six Monets, was amassed by a single couple, Sterling and Francine Clark, and are now a part of the Sterline and Francine Clark Art Institute. All of the paintings were originally purchased to hang in one of the couples’ homes – can you imagine?!

My favorite painting from the exhibit was the small Crossing the Street by Giovani Boldini. A snapshot of Paris 1875, a woman is captured crossing the cobblestoned street with flowers in hand is en route to a perfectly normal day. At first sight, I’m drawn to it because it’s a world you and I could easily fall into. Take away the woman’s style of dress, and this scene could be Paris in 2012 (yes, even the horse-drawn carriages can be found regularly in certain parts of the city). The open store fronts, dog-walkers, and people checking-out other people are just as ordinary. And then I realized that perhaps I like the painting even more, because it’s a 19th century version of a 21st century artist, The Sartorialist founder Scott Schuman. I’d like to think he would have maybe shot this women just as Boldini did 137 years ago. Time period forgotten, distinct style always catches the eye.

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